Brazil’s Petrobras oil and gas production is stable in 2nd quarter 2021

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – Petrobras registered, in the second quarter, a 1.1% growth in oil and gas production, compared to the first quarter, for an average of 2.796 million barrels of oil equivalent per day (BOE/day). In the annual comparison, there was a slight retraction of 0.2%.

In relation to the first quarter, the state-controlled company attributed the production increase to the ramp-up curve of platforms P-68 (which operates in the Berbigão and Sururu fields, in the Santos Basin deep water pre-salt fields) and P-70 (Atapu field, also in the Santos Basin pre-salt).

Overall, production in the pre-salt totaled 1.96 million BOE/day in the second quarter, representing 70% of Petrobras’ total production – one percentage point higher than in the first quarter and four percentage points higher than in the first quarter in the second quarter of 2020.

Of the total volume, Petrobras produced 2.226 million barrels/day of oil, up 1.4% compared to the previous quarter. In the annual comparison, the drop was 0.8%.

In the pre-salt, production grew 3.4% compared to the first quarter of this year and 6.1% compared to the second quarter of 2020, to 1.620 million barrels/day.

In the other environments, the trajectory is down: in the post-salt, in deep and ultra-deep waters, 506,000 barrels/day were extracted – a reduction of 2.9% compared to the first quarter and of 11.7% on a year-on-year basis.

Meanwhile, in onshore and shallow waters, production was 99,000 barrels/day, 9.2% less than in the first three months of the year and 31.3% less than in the second quarter.

Petrobras exported 743,000 barrels per day (b/d) of oil in the second quarter of 2021, up 8% compared to the same period last year. Compared to the first quarter of the year, the volume grew 45.4%.

According to the company, the growth of sales abroad reflects the lower loads at the company’s own refineries due to programmed shutdowns for maintenance at the units.

During the second quarter of the year, the state-owned company expanded its customer base. It incorporated four new refiners to the sales portfolio for oil from the Búzios field, in addition to four new customers for production from the Atapu field, both located in the Santos Basin pre-salt area.

There was an increase in oil sales to Europe, Latin America, the United States, India, and a reduction in exports to China.

“We explored the arbitrage that has favored the sale of oil in Western markets by diversifying the destination of oil exports,” the state-owned company explained in the production and sales report.

In addition, Petrobras began operations of blending oil with fuel oil in search of greater profitability, taking advantage of the appreciation of low-sulfur fuel oil. In the second quarter of the year, the company also made the first load of oil from the Jubarte field, in the Campos Basin, as a component of low-sulfur fuel oil.

Petrobras informed that the platform P-70, which operates in the Atapu field in the Santos Basin pre-salt, recorded, on July 18, its maximum allowed production capacity of 161 thousand barrels/day.

In the midst of the pandemic, the mark was reached in less than 13 months after the unit started producing. The company’s average in the last three years is 11 months to reach the maximum capacity of its platforms.

The state-owned company cited that, due to the pandemic, it is maintaining a reduced staffing level on the platforms.

Among the other operational highlights of the second quarter, the oil company mentioned the beginning of the integrated operation, in June, of Routes 1 and 2 of the Santos Basin gas flow, near FPSO (floating platform) Cidade de Angra dos Reis,  fruit of the beginning of the Integrated System of Gas Flow (SIE) contracts with its pre-salt (subsalt).

Also, in June, the company started the flow of gas from the P-76 in the Búzios field.

The company also highlighted that, on July 5, FPSO Carioca concluded its route to its definitive location, in the Sépia field, with the subsequent start of anchoring activities. The unit’s first oil is scheduled for August.

The oil company highlighted the signing of the Búzios Sharing Agreement with Pré-sal Petróleo S.A. (PPSA) and its partners CNODC and CNOOC. Petrobras will hold 92.666%, CNODC 3.667%, and CNOOC 3.667% of the Búzios field when the agreement goes into effect.

The estimated stakes and financial compensation to be paid by the partners to Petrobras presented will be based on the effective date of September 1, 2021. Once the date is confirmed, with the approval of the National Petroleum Agency (ANP) agreement, the necessary adjustments will be made according to the accumulated production and the investments made until that date, with the consequent financial compensation to Petrobras.